A few years ago, we began seeing a truck in the Southern California show scene that consistently grabbed our attention. Each time we saw it, more had been done. The truck was soon painted and looked great, but it was always missing some element for it to be considered immaculate. We could already see that this ride wasn't going to be feature-worthy -- it would be a cover truck. Still, no matter how many hints we dropped for Jeff Strout, he kept taking his sweet time getting things done. We'd nearly given up hope of ever seeing everything accomplished giving the Toyota its month of fame on the cover of Mini Truckin'.

As this past winter rolled around, we were tired of waiting and approached Jeff Strout after the showfield cleared out at Resolutions. We wanted to find out just how much longer it would be until his Toyota was ready to be photographed. As it turned out, even though we thought the truck looked great, it wasn't good enough for Jeff. He still wanted to revamp his interior and change the fuel tank that was sitting in his bed into a fuel cell. A few months later, at Forbidden Fantasy's annual show 'n' shine, we noticed that Jeff's interior had been given a complete makeover and looked far better than ever. As far as we were concerned, the truck was ready to go into the studio. We'd just needed to call Jeff and set up the day and time to shoot, right? Uh, no. He still wanted to replace his fuel tank with a fuel cell. Oh, the monotony of waiting for a cover truck to develop! It was at this point that we recommended Jeff call Devious Customs in Ontario, California, to work directly with owner Jeff Davy and have a custom fuel cell built and installed for the Toyota.

Was it time yet? Would we actually get this incredibly detailed Toyota into our studio, giving everyone who can see and appreciate a fine custom the chance to check out Jeff's fine ride? Finally, it was time to set up the photo shoot and hire a model to stand alongside the Toyota. Just before the shoot, however, Jeff decided to pull his compressors and swap them out for VIAIR models. No, this wasn't weeks before the shoot. We're talking mere hours before the truck was due to arrive at the studio. Not only that, but the truck was supposed to be loaded onto a trailer for the trip to the studio the night before. Luckily, it wasn't. The night before the shoot, another trailer backed over Jeff's trailer, which would've destroyed his Toyota if he'd been overly responsible and preloaded the truck. Fortunately, it all worked out, and we don't have to bug Jeff "Bobby Hill" Strout any longer about when his truck will finally make the cut. Now, we need to find someone else to bother about their truck and keep us busy wondering if it will ever get done. (On a side note, we've also nearly given up on Chad Lucas' Pathfinder.)

In all, it has taken Jeff a grand total of five years to get his Toyota to the point its at today. Even though we've whined to Jeff more times than we can remember, the wait was well worth it. We think Jeff is more than excited to see his truck finally make the cover of MT, but not more so than we are. It's about time!

Paint/GraphicsFinal bodywork and paint by Ed Warren (Fast Eddie) of FED Customs in Yucca Valley, California / Spies Hecker Permacon, '02 Audi Lazer Red, and Midnight Black paint with a metallic-silver flame outlined in bright yellow / DuPont clearcoat. Before the flames continue down the side of the truck, the scheme starts out as a straight line along the bottom of a Toyota 4Runner valance, skipping over a chrome-and-red 4Runner front end and onto Toyota 4x4 fenders.

AwardsMore than 30 trophies, from Best of Show to Best Paint and Best Interior, fill Jeff's garage from every event he's attended with the Toyota.